Master Chief meets the Avengers
by Dragon Cat84
Summary: This takes place following the events of Halo 3 and towards the end of Avengers the movie during the battle. I don't own either franchise nor want anything out of it instead I just want to have fun and I hope you do too.
1. Battle of New York

"Chief, I need you" Cortana's sweet voice brought the Master Chief out of his long sleep as the cryo-chamber began its warm up sequence. The Chief was suddenly aware of being back in the rear section of the Forward Unto Dawn inside one of her cryo storage bays.

"What is it Cortana?" The Chief asked pulling the release handle popping open the cryo-pod's hatch.

"My sensors are limited but we're detecting English communications from a portal"

"A portal?" The Chief queried grabbing his trusted MA5B Assault Rifle flicking out the cartridge checking it was full before replacing it.

"It just appeared there appear to be unknown alien life-forms heading for the portal" the AI reported.

"And you think there are humans on the other end?" The Chief asked suddenly hoping to return home after being marooned in space following the firing of the Halo ring over the Ark.

"Probably I don't recognise any of the frequencies they appear antiquated." She said "Chief! We got incoming some of those aliens are breaking off and heading for the Forward Unto Dawn."

"Are there any Longswords or Pelicans left?"

"One Pelican in bay two" She said after a moment "sending warm up command" she said knowing what he'd want next they'd been together long enough. "Yank me" she said the Chief did not hesitate instead he just pulled the chip containing Cortana's essence from the podium and inserted it into the back of his helmet. Instantly the Chief felt the strange cool sensation he felt when Cortana entered his MJOLNIR armour suit with Cortana secure the Chief headed through the wrecked Forward Unto Dawn.

Above the streets of New York a strange portal had been opened by the Asgardian Prince Loki and was disgorging hundreds of alien Soldiers into Earth's atmosphere. On the war-torn streets below the SHIELD response team known as "The Avengers" stood ready for the next group of enemies.

"I have unfinished business with Loki" the Asgardian Prince Thor said, Loki was Thor's adopted brother they had grown up together but while Thor was due to rule Asgard Loki had felt he'd been forgotten.

"Yeah, get in line" Clint "Hawkeye" Barton said inspecting one of his arrows.

"Save it" Captain Steve Rodgers said dressed in the stars and stripes uniform of Captain America carrying the circular shield. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without that these things would run wild" he said walking through the Avengers. "We got Stark up top he's going to…" He started before being interrupted as a motorcycle carrying Dr Bruce Banner pulled up behind them.

"So this all seems horrible" he said getting off the motorcycle.

"I've seen worse" the red haired Natasha Romanov said looking at Banner sceptically

"Sorry" Banner said looking at Natasha not long before Natasha had seen his angry side up close and it hadn't gone well.

"No, we could use a little worse" she said

"Stark, we got him…" Rogers said

"Banner?" Tony Stark asked flying above in his Iron Man suit

"Just like you said" Rodgers confirmed

"Well tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you" further down the street Stark's Iron Man could be seen turning around a building coming towards them. Behind him a massive flying alien followed smashing through a building as it came.

"I don't see how that's a party" Romanov said looking at the flying beast as it dropped to the ground smashing everything out of the way as it closed. Iron Man flew over the gathered Avengers as the beast continued to close on them. Banner turned towards the beast.

"Dr Banner now might be a good time for you to get angry" Rodgers said stepping closer to him.

"That's my secret Captain" Banner said "I'm always angry" his body beginning to transform into the giant green skinned Hulk destroying his clothes as he transformed. With a single punch the Hulk smashed the nose of the flying beast turning it over on itself shattering its armour.

"Hold on!" Stark called out as Iron Man reappeared blasting the beast with a missile shattering it into several pieces.

Entering the atmosphere inside the Pelican the Master Chief was immediately engaged by the hostile aliens. Quickly the Chief realized that there was a massive inhabited city below and that the aliens were attacking that too. "This is Sierra 117 to any UNSC forces please respond." He called out blasting several aliens with the Pelican's forward cannon turret.

"This is Captain Steve Rodgers, I don't know what the UNSC is but if you're human and can fight lock on our position" Captain America responded from the ground the Chief was worried that this Captain didn't know what the UNSC was but followed the command diving the Pelican down over the streets of New York.

"Something doesn't look right, this isn't the New York we know Chief" Cortana said the Master Chief agreed everything looked primitive but he couldn't think about that for now. Flying over the streets the Chief flicked one of the cockpit buttons releasing several weapons pods.

The large green dropship swooped over the Avengers weapons pods slamming into the ground beside them before it landed several feet away. The rear door quickly opened and a single green armoured individual stepped out Rodgers thought individual because he was huge over seven feet tall the Hulk was bigger but only just. Over the green armour Rodgers saw he carried a large assault rifle and had another weapon over his back.

"I am Master Chief Sierra 117" he said as if that should mean something to them all.

"Welcome to New York" Rodgers said accepting him as a fellow Solider even if his origins were unknown. Above them more alien behemoths were entering the atmosphere.

"Call it Captain" Stark said essentially surrendering control to Rodgers the Master Chief decided introductions could wait.

"Alright listen up, until we can close that portal our priority is containment" he said looking up at the portal "Barton I want you on that roof watching everything calling out patterns and strengths, Stark you've got the perimeter if it gets more than three blocks turn it back or turn it to ash."

"Want to give me a lift?" Barton asked Stark

"Right, better clench up Legolas" Stark said stomping over grabbing the man by the back of his clothing pulling him up into the air.

"Thor you've got to try and bottleneck that portal slow them down you've got the lightning light them up." Rodgers said Thor nodded spinning up his hammer throwing it and himself into the air. "You, me and the Chief we've got them on the ground" he said looking at Romanov and the Master Chief the Chief did not reply instead he just raised his assault rifle sighting the aliens in the skyscrapers around them. "Hulk" Rodgers said to the transformed Banner "Smash" he said giving the simple instruction the massive green creature threw himself into the air engaging the aliens hanging off the building above.

The battle quickly turned into a free for all with Iron Man, Thor and Hulk keeping the enemies contained while Barton continued to shoot down enemies and call out numbers from his rooftop the Chief, Romanov and Captain America fought on the ground. As he gunned down yet another enemy Solider the Chief paused for a moment to take note of his new team's capabilities. Both were very capable of fighting hand-to-hand as good as any Spartan he had fought with the Captain's shield seemed to ignore every law of physics as it bounced off of enemies all around them. Romanov was something else a crack shot with her pistols she wasn't afraid to try the Chief's weapons either grabbing an M7 Submachine Gun, that had fallen out of one of the Pelican weapon pods, to gun down enemies the Chief was pretty sure that despite her small frame she could manage to wield two of them if she wanted.

Turning on the spot the Chief gunned down another alien only to be confronted by another just as the last bullet left his assault rifle. Discarding the weapon his hand dropped to his side pulling up a Sangheili energy sword cutting down one enemy he spun cutting down another and then a third. Glancing around he noticed the aliens suddenly didn't want to close on him. Catching a glance from both Rodgers and Romanov he saw that both appreciated his new found surprise. Several long range shots of the alien's weapon slamming into the MJOLNIR's shields draining them significantly but the Chief turned quickly as if he'd barely been touched dropping the sword back onto the thigh magnetic strip of the armour. From the armour's back he drew a BR55 Battle Rifle sighting the enemies he was against quickly sending a burst of fire into the heads of all three.

"Full of surprises aren't you" Romanov said approvingly moving next to him beside a yellow taxi.

"It helps for so many situations" the Chief replied taking a shot at several more enemies unfortunately after taking out one another three seemed to turn up the Chief couldn't help but think they were like Unggoy harmless alone but in groups trouble.

"Captain none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we can't close that portal" Romanov said seemingly reading his mind.

"Our biggest guns can't touch it" Rodgers said

"I've been analysing the beam controlling the portal Chief I haven't found a way in yet" Cortana said to the Chief pretty much confirming what Captain Rodgers had said.

"Maybe it's not about guns" Romanov suggested

"You're still going to need a lift up there." Rodgers said

"I've got a lift, need a boost though" she said Rodgers turned his shield upwards and after a couple of strides Romanov jumped up onto it jumping onto one of the alien's skiffs.

"Now there's just us" Rodgers said looking at the Chief who replied by shooting down three enemies. "Right" Rodgers confirmed. As they fought Iron Man, Hulk and Thor all passed through the combat zone cutting down enemies but it was mostly the Chief and Captain America.

"Captain I need a boost!" The Chief called out snapping up a rocket launcher from one of the weapon pods striding towards Rodgers the Captain positioned his shield upwards and the Chief jumped up onto it surprisingly the Captain and his shield stood up under the weight of the Chief in his MJOLNIR suit gaining the extra height the Chief fired two shots from the launcher down into groups of enemies blowing them to pieces and yet more came.

"I can close it, can anyone copy, I can close it" Romanov said her voice sounding struggled.

"Do it" Rodgers ordered

"Negative, I've got a nuke coming in" Stark said flying above "and I know just where to put it." He said confidently the Chief did not appreciate having a nuke shot at him and noted it as something to look into after this fight. Stark controlled the missile's path sending it, and him, up into the portal the Chief had entered through.

"Com'on Stark" Rodgers said looking into the sky as there was no sign of Iron Man's return through the portal. "Romanov, close it" he ordered just as the Iron Man suit fell through the closing portal. "Son of a gun" he said all around them aliens were falling no longer controlled by whoever was beyond the portal.

"He's not slowing down" Thor said spinning his hammer ready to try and catch the falling Stark. Above them however the Hulk was already in motion leaping from building to building catching Stark in mid air and bringing him back to the ground.

The Iron Man laid on his back looking down at him the Chief remembered seeing many downed Spartans in the same position. Thor moved quickly pulling the gold faceplate from the red armour but the rigidness of the armour hid any breathing movement from Tony Stark. The Hulk screamed loudly and suddenly Stark was awake once more.

"What the hell just happened?" Stark asked looking around "Oh please say no-one kissed me" Stark said still laying on his back.

"We won" Rodgers said sitting down on the ruined road.

"Yay" Stark said sarcastically "let's just not come in tomorrow?" He asked not moving yet.

"We're not done yet" Thor said Tony audibly groaned at the thought of movement but their job was really done. The Avengers team including the Master Chief went up into Stark Tower and confronted Loki from there Thor whisked the rogue Asgardian away to a prison cell on Asgard. The other Avengers went their separate ways while the Master Chief and Cortana were debriefed by SHIELD. The organisation's director Nick Fury acknowledged that the Master Chief's armour, the Pelican and weapons all belonged to the warrior while Cortana was her own separate entity and each would be treated as such. Because of the Chief's actions during the Battle of New York SHIELD agreed to make work with him trying to get back to his own time while offering him security work through SHIELD protecting Earth's people from threats.


	2. A new suit

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Initially it was a one-shot then I had a few ideas so I've kind of changed the premise. This will be one story but I'm not going to rewrite the MCU instead I'm going to pick moments where the Chief could be inserted to make a bigger story.

Three months after the Battle of New York

Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 had adapted to life in the twenty-first century working with SHIELD when they needed him but for the most part he was provided for and left to his own devices. Due to the repercussions that followed the Battle of New York John had tried to keep a low profile, which wasn't easy when you were taller than pretty much anyone else around, he also tried to keep in touch with the others that had gone through the battle. Thor was beyond his reach, Romanov it appeared had disappeared off the face of the earth, while Dr Banner didn't want to speak about the other guy, the others Hawkeye, Captain America and Iron Man were all willing to socialize with him. The first two appeared to be handling things well Hawkeye was an experienced SHIELD agent and had seen plenty of action before, while according to everyone he spoke to Captain America literally fought his way through World War II before saving the planet. How exactly that had worked the Chief wasn't sure but it appeared he wasn't the only time-traveller.

Walking down the stairs into Tony Stark's basement for all his heroics at New York Tony Stark still lived life to the full but wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty and today was no different with his hands covered in grease. "Hi Tony" the Chief said but the man didn't look up "she said you'd be down here."

"Well why not Pepper has a company to look after I'm just a part-time playboy, part-time superhero. How is life for a super-soldier from the future?" He asked looking up at the Chief before he could answer Stark jumped up onto his feet rubbing his hands clean on a rag that had been stuffed into his boiler suit "wait, wait, wait" he said looking around "where is the one with the beauty that matches her brains?" He asked

The Chief did not have to answer instead Cortana's holographic essence "stepped" out of him into the garage. Because of the tech available in Stark's home she could go anywhere she wished. The Master Chief took her in for a moment he'd always found the AI's hologram to be attractive but since coming to Earth she'd changed slightly the hologram's hair had "grown" longer and she'd taken to "wearing" a navy jumpsuit over her standard form. According to Cortana the altered appearance seemed to put people of this century more at ease to the Chief it added an extra sense of mystery.

"As gracious as always Tony" she said Stark smiled seeing the hologram, and possibly the Chief's reaction to her appearance.

"So how have you been Tony?" The Master Chief asked as Stark got back to working on something else at the other side of the room. "I've been where you are, that close to death" he said bluntly trying to get Stark's attention.

"I'm sure you have" Stark said stopping work but not looking at him. "That happens when you're a soldier when you try to be a hero." Moments later he turned around facing the Chief "I'm fine" he said "in fact I've never been better."

"You sure?"

"Of course" Stark said "in fact your little visit is perfectly timed as I have something for you…" he said his voice trailing off teasing.

"It's not ready?" Cortana asked giving the game away instantly she knew something about what Tony was about to say and hadn't said a word. The Chief looked at the AI for a moment feeling slightly betrayed then back at Stark.

"Com'on" Stark said putting down what he had been working on moving over to a blank wall. Tony pressed a couple of buttons on his watch and the wall opened up to reveal a power armour suit unlike any of his other Iron Man suits. "A MJOLNIR suit for the twenty-first century" Tony announced the Master Chief was stunned looking at the suit which had been painted in his traditional green and matte black. Looking at the suit the Master Chief was glad to see the armour lacked Tony's trademark chest mounted power source which he thought looked like a target.

Tony remained quiet for a moment letting the soldier become acquainted with his new armour. But Cortana couldn't wait her hologram appeared opposite the Chief on the other side of the suit "What do you think?" She asked

"It's impressive" he said looking over the suit. It looked like the MJOLNIR created by Dr Halsey but with a few twists the back had been modified with a thruster pack while the wrists looked slightly thicker possibly with additional controls or displays.

"Want to try it on?" Tony finally asked the larger man glanced at Stark with a sense of surprise, and desire, the standard MJOLNIR needed two or three others or a dedicated rig to help get it fitted for a warrior even wearing his own suit Tony wouldn't be able to help him alone. Stark was already in motion showing this suit was more like the Iron Man suits and with a single command the suit was released from its harness, which quickly withdrew back into the wall, this allowed the suit to stand freely on the ground. The rear of the suit then split open showing the familiar gel layer inside that would protect him from the elements of space and from energy weapons and element that impressed the Chief even more Cortana had obviously been helping Stark perfect this part of the suit.

"I'm impressed you were able to recreate it" the Chief said glancing at Cortana's hologram to which she replied with a small smirk. The Chief didn't wait for her to say anything instead he stepped into in the suit which immediately sealed behind him. The Chief stepped backwards flexing his muscles and was glad to find the suit moved just like his real MJOLNIR Stark had done good work.

"I tried to give you full flight capabilities but it would have meant stripping you of most of your energy shields even with your own power source" Stark said as the Chief continued to flex his muscles inside the suit. "Instead you are stuck with an assisted jump system." He said the Master Chief looked back at Stark "your regular jump might be about ten feet with this suit you can jump triple that. It should also allow you to maintain your height briefly or slow your fall." He boasted the Chief was pretty sure he could jump further than ten feet but remained silent he caught out of his eye the Cortana hologram smiling as she saw the suit in action. "If you've done enough flexing there are a couple of other little changes I've given you a party trick." Stark said stepping in front of him looking at the reflective gold visor "raise your hand" he commanded raising his own left hand the Chief followed the instruction.

"Make a fist" he said closing his hand the Chief did what he was told. "And think 'I'm in the mood for dancing'" Stark sang the Chief tilted his head towards the man "go on" he insisted the Chief did as he was told and suddenly around his fist a Sangheili energy sword appeared.

The Chief took a step back in surprise before realising it was real Stark's grin had turned into a full on smile "it won't damage your armour if you have an accident I've laced your armour with a composite that mimics the power signature of the sword the two cancel each other out." Taking Stark's word for it the Chief slowly brought his other hand towards the blade and before the two could touch the sword shut off. "One more" Stark said the Chief could see the pride on the man's face and couldn't tell him enough was enough and instead listened. "Both hands" he said closing his hands into fists the Chief did the same "and think 'and romancing'" he said the Chief hated the commands but did as he was told and suddenly an energy sword appeared in each hand. For all of the things the Chief disliked about this century this was certainly one of the positive things. "To shut them off open your hands" Stark said he'd moved over to one of the tables and was perched on the edge of it as the Chief opened his hands shutting down one blade and then the other before reigniting them both one at a time before shutting them down and igniting both at the same time. "You can modify the shape of the blades with the control panel at the wrist, you can even modify the command that activates them," he said "and it shouldn't be too hard to mate your own power source with the suit improving the whole package's capabilities quite considerably. And if you ever fancy losing some of that shield power I can probably give you a full flight suite." He said proud of his accomplishment.

"I like it as it is" the Chief admitted turning towards Stark "thank you Tony."

"Seemed like your armour had seen some mileage in the dark, cold… void of space" he said his voice trailing off indicating to the Chief there was something bothering him. "You helped us in New York seemed like the least I could do was give something back" he said quickly seemingly regaining his composure.

"JARVIS seems to think he might have a solution for your upcoming problem as well" Tony said glancing at Cortana's hologram the AI looked visibly shocked. During their debriefing with SHIELD Cortana had been quite open with the possibility of rampancy to find out that Tony's AI could have possibly found solution to the problem that had plagued UNSC decades since their inception was literally a game changer for Cortana. "It still needs a bit of work but we're getting there" Tony promised.

"Baby steps always help" Cortana managed glancing over at the Chief there was a connection between them there always had been. Cortana had seen something in the Chief from the first moment she had looked at his profile but they had always known it would be a limited partnership. SMART AI's like Cortana only lasted seven years it was a simple statement. When they had originally been paired it had seemed like a lifetime away however now it was far closer, to close for comfort, in this planet which was as alien to them as any they had ever been on they were all each other had. With a couple of steps Cortana reached out and her consciousness merged with the Chief's her hologram appearing to sink into the new armour "nice new digs" quietly now that only he could hear.

"So where are they sending you two next?" Stark asked as the Chief continued to flex his muscles inside the armour this time with Cortana inside the armour with the Chief the suit's movements were faster and sharper.

"We're to help secure Washington DC with security concerns they have after the recent spate of bombings."

"Helping the good old government" Stark said "well good luck with that Chief."

EDITED and updated thanks to Lone Ranger 97 for spotting an error


	3. Rise of HYDRA

Within the last hour the Master Chief had been made aware of an assassination attempt against Director Nick Fury. Volunteering his Pelican as transport for a security team the Chief now flew over Washington DC with two F22 aircraft escorting. "Sierra 117 to escort I see the crash-site" he said circling over the chaos below the chief saw several wrecked Police Cruisers and the Director's ruined SUV "we're going in." He said

"Good hunting Chief" the pilots said tipping their wings as they engaged their afterburners taking them out over the city. The Chief rolled and dove the Pelican down towards the street landing within ten feet of the Director's upturned vehicle. Opening the rear hatch the Chief allowed the recovery team to leave the Pelican then followed them out of the craft.

"Spread out, find as much evidence as you can" the Chief said approaching the Director's ruined vehicle he could see more than a hundred bullet holes torn into the craft. Looking around the craft the Chief guessed that explosives had been used to flip the vehicle over onto its roof while it appeared the Director himself had escaped by cutting a hole in the roof.

The techs moved quickly around the area while the Chief stood guard near the Pelican. Several more Police Cruisers were approaching their position. The Chief took several steps forward and pulled his Battle Rifle from its place on the back of his armour if these police officers were hostile they were about to regret ever coming here. The three cars stopped short of approaching completely instead their drivers climbed out maintaining their distance taking cover behind the cars. "I'm Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra 117, I'm with SHIELD, and we are no threat." He said keeping the Battle Rifle low. The troopers trained their weapons on the Chief for several more seconds but none of them fired instead they lowered their weapons taking several steps backwards. "That's right we're all friendly." He said stepping back towards the Pelican suddenly the Chief turned back towards members of the strike team he'd came with all with their weapons trained on him. "Cortana did we miss something?"

"Their communications are encrypted"

"Drop you weapon Chief" one of them said nervously "we don't want to harm you."

"What is going on" the Master Chief demanded looking from one weapon to the next suddenly a shot rang off his shield. "That was a mistake" the Chief said his motions were a blur as he ran at the troopers. Bullets impacted against his shields depleting them quickly but the Chief was too fast for that to be a concern instead of using his guns he kicked and punched his opponents shattering bones as he ran at them. Within a few moments the six man team was laying on the ground withering in pain while the tech team looked stunned. The Chief kicked the strike teams weapons away from them and turned towards the bemused looking police officers. "These men are under arrest." The Chief said addressing them "I am needed at the Triskelion." He said running into the Pelican rapidly lifting off. "Cortana can you raise the Operations Room?"

"Negative Chief" she said "wait I've got something on the low band" she said putting on the communication broadcast as they approached the Triskelion.

"…If you launch those Helicarriers today HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way." Steve Rodgers said "unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot but the price of freedom is high, it always has been and it's a price I'm willing to pay. If I'm the only one so be it but I'm willing to be I'm not." He said finishing the broadcast.

"HYDRA?" The Chief wondered knowing he'd heard of them somewhere before.

"A research and development branch of the Nazi's during World War II, they were thought destroyed" she said outside the Triskelion the hanger doors which hid the Helicarrier construction bay were opening the pools of water outside draining into the bay below "three distinct reactors powering up."

"Take control over the Pelican" the Chief ordered inserting her chip into the control panel. His original idea was to fly the Pelican straight into the Helicarrier but if there were three of them such a charge would be futile. "I need to get to the command centre. Get me close then take the ship out of the combat zone." He said moving into the back area of the dropship. From the weapon rack there he grabbed his Battle Rifle and a pair of sub-machine guns before heading to the back of the ship opening the hatch. Cortana moved the dropship past the building as she did the Chief began to run jumping off the edge of the loading ramp he began to fall like a stone but the thruster pack installed by Tony Stark in this new uniform lived up to its name. At just the right moment the Chief triggered the pack which catapulted his MJOLNIR suit through the building windows and into one of the offices.

Stepping up to the office door the Chief heard several snaps of weapons fire in the corridor and saw several downed agents. Checking his motion tracker the Chief saw three targets moving down the hall towards the downed agents he waited motionless for several moments allowing the attackers to approach before acting. Leaping out the open door the Chief kicked the first man almost straight through the wall catching the attackers by surprise. The elite members of the STRIKE team were not shocked for long moments later bullets ricocheted against his armour's shields. Turning quickly the Chief blasted one and then the other with his SMGs killing both instantly. "Cortana STRIKE ALPHA is hostile don't acknowledge any communications from them." He reported it seemed both his and Captain America's teams had been compromised by HYDRA which couldn't be good news.

"Chief the Helicarriers are continuing to rise they seem to be a lot more heavily armed than standard." Cortana warned

"We'll be out of here before that's a problem" he promised charging quickly down the corridor towards the main operations centre, there was no-one on the doors which was against standard operating procedure, stepping cautiously into the room the Chief found a scene of chaos with multiple SHIELD Agents and Ops Centre Operatives nursing wounds as he entered several weapons turned on him. "Friendly to SHIELD" he said calmly not raising his paired SMGs a blonde haired agent approached him "what the hell is going on?" He demanded looking at her there was something about her which suggested she was in charge.

"HYDRA was hiding under SHIELD's noses all these years they've launched the Helicarriers and plan to use them to kill millions" she explained rapidly "Captain America and a few others are trying to stop them. The STRIKE team tried to take over the Ops Centre but we drove them off."

"You have wounded, we need to get out of here, follow me" he said turning to leave the Agent didn't argue instead she and sixteen other survivors followed him back into the corridor. Not content to follow him the blonde haired agent kept pace with his MJOLNIR suit he noticed her forearm was badly cut with blood seeping through a dressing.

"CHIEF!" Cortana shouted a warning gaining his attention "the Helicarriers have opened fire… on each other!" She warned.

"Come and get us on level twelve auxiliary landing pad four!" He said remembering the layout from his last visit. "Agents we need to move" he ordered quickening his pace outside the windows they could see the three Helicarriers opening fire on each other with every weapon they had.

"Chief that pad won't take the Pelican's weight for long"

"It won't have to" the Chief promised slamming a control panel extending the landing pad moments later the Pelican appeared in site. Above the building one of the Helicarriers was already falling from the sky while the other two were taking heavy damage. "Get on board now!" He shouted the agents quickly filed inside as one of the Helicarriers dived out of control towards the Triskelion. "Cortana punch it! Get us out of here" the Chief called out jumping onto the Pelican slapping the rear door closer the AI brought the Pelican rapidly away from the Triskelion just as the Helicarrier slammed into the building causing massive destruction. The Chief made his way through the Pelican to the cockpit "take us to Andrews Field" he said he knew the base was controlled by the United States Armed Forces and hoped that the madness that was consuming SHIELD would not affect them.

Approaching Andrews Field the Pelican's sensors registered a missile lock on them from the field "This is Sierra 117 to Andrews Field, I have agents in need of medical assistance, we mean no hostile intent permission to hand." He said turning the dropship over the landing field after several minutes a response came.

"Sierra 117 you are clear to land on the south landing strip. Medical Teams will be dispatched do not leave your ship until they arrive." The controller warned the Chief nodded diving the dropship down towards the landing strip bringing the craft into a soft landing. After several moments several trucks full of troops approached them, two helicopters took to the air, while an Iron Man suit approached. Looking at the suit the Master Chief knew that it wasn't Tony Stark from the outline of the suit moments later it flew straight over the top of the DropShip.

"The War Machine" Cortana said naming the variant of the suit. "This doesn't look good."

"Agreed" he said rising from the chair "close the cockpit behind me if things go wrong launch the Pelican and take these people somewhere safe." The Chief stepped out of the cockpit and stepped into the rear hold the blonde haired agent immediately rose to speak to him.

"Where are we?" She asked looking at the gold faceplate of the armour.

"Andrews Field" the Chief said reaching up onto a shelf pulling down a large chaingun. "If things go wrong Cortana will take you somewhere safe." He promised her walking towards the exit lowering the rear hatch and walking down onto the tarmac.

Behind the Pelican the War Machine stood its arms raised and its own over shoulder chaingun aimed at the Master Chief.


	4. The War Machine

Master Chief and the War Machine

The Master Chief stood looking at the black and silver armour of the War Machine holding the chaingun in his hands. "Colonel Rhodes these people were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time they are innocent of the problems at the Triskelion, they are not hostile, and I have injured on board that ship."

"They will receive all required medical help then each will be vetted by the United States Army and if found innocent we will help them otherwise I need you to stand-down Master Chief!" He commanded his weapons not leaving the Chief's form. "You have my word they will not be mistreated." He said raising his weapons off the Chief as he spoke. The lone Spartan slowly lowered his own chain gun aiming it at the ground away from the War Machine.

Several weeks later and the Master Chief was still stuck on Andrews Field without an assignment since the fall of SHIELD. Natasha "Black Widow" Romanov had released dozens of documents which ended the last fragments of SHIELD now leaving a void where the organisation once was. Elsewhere elements of HYDRA continued to cause problems for the nations of the world. Because the Pelican, his weapons and his armour technically belonged to the Master Chief he'd been given a hanger with round o'clock security while Cortana had been allowed to transfer between the hanger and to the Avenger's tower in New York at will working with Tony Stark and Dr Bruce Banner in an attempt to solve her rampancy problem. Boredom was becoming a problem but the Master Chief had spent time refining and cleaning his equipment as he was at work in the hanger Colonel James Rhodes entered the hanger dressed in his United States Air Force uniform. "Master Chief" he said the Spartan didn't turn around immediately "it looks clean to me" the dark skinned Colonel said looking over the MJOLNIR armour suit.

"It can never be too clean or too ready" he said turning round to face the Colonel "how can I assist you Colonel?"

"As you may be aware there are still elements of HYDRA on the loose around the globe?" The Chief nodded "the Central Intelligence Agency has been tracking them down and the Avengers have been taking them out around the world. I've been tasked with eliminating a HYDRA cell that we have identified here in the United States at a disused army base. We believe they have secured themselves access to multiple surplus army vehicles and they are trying to build an army we cannot allow that on our soil." He explained crossing the room leaning against the front of the Pelican.

"Then why not use your own forces I have read much since arriving here despite the presence of the Avengers and the lack of any worldwide conflicts there is still great strength in the United States military." The Chief pointed out

"Yes, but to confront HYDRA's assembled units could cause a far greater conflict than the military need on our own soil. The military will hold a perimeter while we go in and capture their leadership." Rhodes said between the two of them they were an army. "You can do this or remain cooped up here in this hanger." He pointed out.

Several hours later the Master Chief's Pelican was approaching the enemy base with War Machine flying alongside. Rhodes banked to the right diving towards the main gate as planned he would give them a chance to surrender. As he approached the gates suddenly a large amount of flak began to be fired into the air War Machine opened fire with his over shoulder cannon blasting one guard tower with a stream of weapons fire. Above the Chief watched for a moment as HYDRA units moved towards the gates, there must have been thirty-forty personnel, as they passed he picked his moment switching the Pelican onto autopilot he turned and ran towards the rear of the ship opening the rear cargo door as he moved.

Suddenly the armoured soldier was falling through the air towards the ground he activated his jet pack to slow his fall before finally free falling the final ten feet to the ground shaking the ground. Immediately the Chief pulled a rocket launcher from his back and targeted a guard tower destroying it with a single rocket small arms fire slammed into his armour from multiple directions as he turned and fired a second rocket into a communication tower causing more confusion and chaos. Behind the Master Chief War Machine moved forwards rapidly on his jets landing in front of an Abrams tank he knelt in front of the vehicle and fired his jump jets once more throwing the massive vehicle through the air like it was a toy.

The tank flew through the air slamming into the ground in front of the main building of the impact with the ground tearing the craft to pieces. The Master Chief ran quickly over the ground firing his remaining two rockets as he moved destroying a row of armoured vehicles before discarding the launcher. Moving forwards War Machine's wrist guns and turreted cannon cut down multiple enemies as the two figures charged towards the building. Launching through the air on his suit's upgraded jets the Master Chief flung his MJOLNIR armour through the window his armour's shield's flaring as he rolled across the ground the Chief drew two sub-machine guns from their thigh holsters and rose to his feet firing as he moved cutting down enemies all around the room. In the next room the War Machine moved through the room with the same clinical precision cutting down those who fired on him the two armoured giants meeting in the corridor. "More fun than cleaning your armour?" Rhodes asked

"Just a little" the Chief admitted "we have eight more on the floor above." He warned as Rhodes flew up the stairs for a moment several large calibre machine guns opened fire peppering his armour. "And they are prepared"

"Any ideas?" Rhodes asked he had a couple of his own but was curious to see what the warrior would come up with. The Chief didn't immediately answer instead he put machine guns back onto their holstered position on his armour's thighs and closed his fists.

"I'm in the mood for dancing" he said quietly but loud enough for Rhodes to hear over the commlink "and romancing" he said activating both energy blades instead of Sangheili blades the both activated as long individual blades.

"Tony's idea?" Rhodes asked the Chief knew he referred to the tune "you need to change that." He said not waiting for a reply "even with your shields you can't take the punishment up there."

"Not going the normal way" he said thrusting both blades straight up into the roof weakening the structure of the building the Chief moved quickly slicing open the roof shattering the concrete. He then launched upwards using his armour's enhancements and jump jets. Half a ton of soldier smashed through the roof rising up to the upper floor of the building surprising his enemies. Releasing the blades he drew out both sub-machine guns as War Machine followed him up landing at his back between the two of them they had the entire room covered by weapons fire.

"STAND DOWN!" War Machine bellowed through his suit's external speakers. The men and women arranged around them did not move for a moment remaining in their positions some of them with weapons drawn some deciding what to do. "You won't get another warning now STAND DOWN!" He shouted another warning as neither War Machine nor the Chief's weapons wavered from their targets a moment seemed to pass before one of the HYDRA commanders stepped forwards.

"I am Colonel Norman Knight" he said introducing himself to the two men he was in his forties and other than the BDU of a US Marine that he wore not much stood out about the man. "For you two to have wrought so much destruction in the name of SHIELD and yet you know nothing about the crimes that they committed." He taunted them stepping closer to the Master Chief.

"We are here on the authority of the United States Government. I am Colonel James Rhodes and I can accept your surrender."

"Or be my executioner."

"If it has to go that way" the Chief said interrupting the two of them "Colonel, you cannot win." He warned the man his guns not lowering.

"Colonel make your choice" Rhodes commanded within a couple of moments the remaining HYDRA personnel chose to surrender leaving only the Colonel standing defiant with one of the Master Chief's sub-machine guns pointed at his throat.

Finally the man spoke "I surrender" he said with those two words the battle was over and quickly the United States National Guard were able to move in and secure the area taking control over the base. The Master Chief recalled his Pelican while he and War Machine walked out of the facility.

"We should do this again" Rhodes suggested as the massive Pelican flew overhead slowly turning so the rear of the craft faced them the cargo bay ramp opening as it came in for a soft landing. There was not another craft on Earth that could land as lightly as the Pelican despite all the advancements people had made.

"Agreed" the Chief said stepping onto the ramp "you know where I am Colonel" he said stepping into the craft the door closing behind him as the craft rose into the air. Behind the Pelican War Machine took off flying up alongside the Pelican for a moment before banking away leaving the Chief to return to base alone.

Meanwhile in New York Cortana watched as Tony Stark and Dr Bruce Banner silently worked in their lab at the top of Avenger Tower. For the last four hours the two had said a total of fourteen words to each other. Over the last few months she had found this to be a normal occurrence the two were friends but each of them appeared equally comfortable with working in silence as they did speaking. Together they had found several ways to slow the Rampancy that was slowly taking over her program; ways that the people of the UNSC had never even considered. Tony Stark's own personal AI assistance JARVIS constantly challenged Cortana attempting to keep her program from thinking too much instead providing her with a constant stream of puzzles even when she was doing other tasks this had helped slow the Rampancy but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would need to be shut down. And on that day John would be alone. She thought suddenly she focused on him the Master Chief ignoring Stark, Banner and JARVIS and thought about the Master Chief he'd lost so much over the years his original parents, the other Spartan II's, Captain Keyes and his crew and then his Keyes' daughter Miranda and her crew, Sergeant Avery Johnston and now finally her.

"Cortana…" Stark repeated walking around the room "normally this works…" he explained glancing at the Asian woman who stood nearby "Earth to the magnificent AI that isn't called JARVIS…" he called out again. Cortana noted that Banner was barely containing himself as he watched Stark walk around the room.

"You know I am listening, Stark" Cortana said as her hologram 'stepped' out of a nearby wall she'd learned that Tony Stark answered better to Stark when he was in one of these kinds of moods. Her hologram appeared as it normally did on Earth wearing the navy jumpsuit she'd adopted to keep people feeling more comfortable around her. According to Tony he preferred her 'sexed-up' hologram but she'd learned that sometimes as brilliant as he was he needed to be ignored.

"I'm glad to hear it" he said glancing at the other female in the room "this is Dr Helen Cho she has been working on some remarkable projects with some of Earth's greatest minds myself and Dr Banner included" he explained "and together with her we might be able to help solve some of your problems."


	5. Cortana

Master Chief meets the Avengers – Cortana

As parties went this one would have been rated as one of the biggest, and most exclusive, in New York City tonight all of the Avengers and those that had supported them were present enjoying their victory against the last remains of HYDRA. The Master Chief stood off at the side it felt strange being out of his MJOLNIR armour in the public eye and away from a weapon but according to almost everyone he knew that was here every person in this building could be trusted to keep the secrets that each of them held. For the Chief he stood apart from the others 'behaviour in a social setting' had never been high on the SPARTAN training program list in-fact it hadn't been on it at all. The original SPARTANs were built for the battlefield not parties. He wondered what Cortana would think about all of this he knew she was in the building's computer system and could project her hologram anywhere she wished but that was just one more thing that could be talked about.

"Well well soldier why are you standing all alone without a date?" A familiar voice asked the Chief quickly suppressed a smile as he thought that Cortana had been reading his mind then he remembered he wasn't wearing his armour and her data chip was nowhere near him. "Can't even look at me well this is depressing…" she said this time the Chief turned and for the first time that he could remember the Chief felt faint for standing right in front of him apparently in the flesh was a life sized human Cortana. "Oh I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" She asked playfully stepping closer he could smell her perfume.

"How?" He struggled out still looking at her

"Well you see when we agreed that I could do more good in this tower with Stark and Banner than with you in the field?" She said stepping one more step closer reaching out with her hand touching his shirt with her hand "I've waited so long to do that…" she whispered feeling his heart beat.

"Cortana, please explain some of this… what is happening here?" He struggled out

"Well John" she said taking his hand drawing him towards the dance floor "Stark and Banner have a friend named Dr Helen Cho she's a brilliant scientist who has created a synthetic flesh and body for me." She explained as they began to slowly dance the Chief marvelled at how she felt against him but was being ultra careful around her ensuring he didn't accident hurt the human form moving close to him.

"So you're human just like that?" He said almost to himself

"Not quite human and it's not permanent" she answered "I can transfer to this body for a short period each day otherwise my program needs to be held in stasis" she explained "but they are working on a solution."

"To rampancy" he said leaving out his last thought 'good luck'

"I know this isn't perfect but it's a start and this lets me live for a little" she said quietly as they moved to the music "I can't make memories the same way as before with this body. It's restricted to making memories in this body. I won't remember them when I return to the mainframe."

"So you won't remember tonight?" He asked as she spun away from him holding his hand lightly as she spun gentle and then returned to him the light reflecting off her blue dress and dark hair as she moved suddenly her back connecting with his chest for a moment before she turned again to dance with her.

"Oh I'll remember, John, I'll just have to wait until I'm in this form again." She said as they continued to dance as the party continued the two of them had eyes only for each other. After years fighting and working together it was strange to now be in actual contact Cortana knew more about the Master Chief, John, than anyone but now it seemed they were learning more about each other in one night than ever.

The night carried on for several more hours until most of the guests had left leaving the team of Avengers and those that were closest to them sat around a single table in the middle of the room. "It's a trick" Hawkeye said looking at Thor they were seated on opposite sides of the table Hawkeye sitting close to Maria Hill one time member of SHIELD and now one of Stark's main assistants.

"No, No, it's more than that" Thor said chinking a glass bottle with Captain America. To the side of the Asgardian Prince the Master Chief relaxed on a chair with Cortana sitting on his lap leaning over his chest her body felt good against his and though smaller than his augmented SPARTAN frame she seemed well proportioned. He'd decided as the night progressed that dancing was like combat no plan ever survived contact with the enemy but he was sure that no bones had been broken accidentally.

As the Chief thought about Cortana Hawkeye continued in a deep voice "For he is worthy should have the power!" And then in a more normal voice "whatever man it's a trick"

"Please be my guest" Thor confident that Hawkeye could not raise the hammer. The Chief looked at Thor carefully now dressed like any human male he looked perfectly normal, larger than the average man well toned muscles but perfectly normal, and he wondered 'do I look like that? Just bigger than normal'

"You okay?" Cortana whispered to him obviously seeing him look at Thor the Chief just nodded as Hawkeye jumped to his feet.

"Really?" Hawkeye surprised that Thor would allow it.

"You've had a tough, week we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up" Stark teased Hawkeye had only recently recovered from a serious injury taken when fighting HYDRA and Dr Cho had helped him like she had helped Cortana.

"I've seen this before" Hawkeye said knowingly to Thor as if there was a special way to pick it up he grabbed the hammer and tried to pick it up off the table "how do you do it?" He demanded then saw Tony Stark looking his way.

"Stare of silent judgement" Stark admitted

"Please! Stark by all means" Hawkeye said making way for the billionaire who had financed this whole building around them and no doubt put the tools in Dr Cho's hands for her to save Hawkeye and create this new form for Cortana. 'Another thing I owe' the Chief thought silently for all the attempts he had made to try and keep separate things continued to be intertwined with the people of Earth.

"Never want to shrink from an honest challenge" Stark admitted rising from seat opening jacket. "It's physics" he stated "if I lift it I rule Asgard?"

"Yes of course" Thor joked

Stark moved to the hammer and mumbled something before trying to lift the hammer, before failing to "be right back." He said returning a moment later with one of his hands encased in Iron Man armour. Even with the enhanced strength he failed to move the hammer calling in Rhodes for assistance with his own War Machine gauntlet. The two men tried and failed to lift it the Chief became aware of Cortana looking at him.

"What?" He whispered

"I don't suppose your armour is stashed away anywhere?" She asked the Chief became aware of the others looking at him as well.

"Back at the base under lock and key" he promised her.

"Well com'on, Chief, feel free to give it a go" Maria Hill challenged the Chief who glanced around the group, then at Thor and finally the hammer. The Chief was almost certain he could make a better attempt at moving it than the others even with his MJOLNIR suit the enhancements his muscles and bones had gone through gave him an advantage the others did not have.

"It wouldn't really be fair" the Chief decided deflecting the challenge "I am not from this Earth, or this time, and Cortana is so comfortable." He noted not rising from his chair bringing laughter from around the room.

"We noticed" Dr Helen Cho teased seeing Cortana make herself even more comfortable on his lap. In the corner of his eyes he saw Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanov looking uncomfortable with the conversation and then Banner rising to his feet taking up the challenge. With a single roar he tried and instantly gave up on picking up the hammer raising his hands above his head pretending to be the Hulk more for laughs than anything around the group the other Avengers didn't look too impressed, they'd all seen Banner's other side in action.

Captain America rose to his feet and grabbed hold of the hammer trying to move it while Thor continued to drink confidently with Stark egging on the Captain. For a moment the hammer moved but then the he gave up returning to his seat. A relieved Thor watched as Steve Rodgers gave up and returned to his chair.

"Widow?" Banner asked Natasha Romanov who sat on the chair beside him. The red haired woman laughed off the suggestion she was interested in the contest and laid back in her chair.

"Honestly it is actually a trick" Stark said looking at Thor

"Bet your ass" Hawkeye agreed patting the other man on the shoulder.

"Steve he said a bad word" Hill teased looking at Steve Rodgers who had recently commented about the Avengers communications during battle.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Rodgers asked Stark who shrugged his shoulders before turning back towards Thor again.

"They are technically correct it is a trick it's a very sophisticated security lock" Cortana said speaking up for the first time she'd looked into each of the Avengers in turn over the time she and John had been on Earth but Thor was a special case she knew all about the legends, at least they were legends where she and the Chief were from. "It's locked to your DNA" she said looking at Thor "for he who has the finger prints of Thor, son of Odin, Prince of Asgard should wield Mjolnir. The same approach was taken by those that developed the Chief's armour only a warrior augmented like a SPARTAN can wear it safely hence the name MJOLNIR." She said glancing at Stark realizing she had just cut him off from sounding smart.

"Yes that is a very interesting theory young lady" Thor said tipping his head to Cortana she liked the sound of that even if she wasn't a real human "I have a simpler one" he said flipping up the hammer simply into his hands "you're all not worthy." He said laughing as the others shouted their disagreements.

"No but then how could you be worthy you're all killers" a voice said off the side followed by groaning suddenly a figure appeared climbing the stairs. The others recognized it as one of the Iron Legion robots that assisted the Avengers.

"Stark" Steve Rodgers called out for him to shut down the malfunctioning robot. As Stark fiddled with a control panel trying to shut down the robot it continued to close on them shambling closer like a factious zombie from movies. As it closed Cortana rose from the chair as did the Master Chief sensing a fight.

"Sorry I was asleep… I was a dream… there was a terrible noise… and I was tangled in strings… had to kill the other guy… he was a good guy" the figure said as it moved closer to them they could see it was one of the broken robots from the fight with HYDRA.

"Killed someone?" Steve Rodgers said challenging the robot's words

"Wouldn't have been my first call but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices"

"Who sent you" Thor demanded his hammer still in his hands flexing his muscles. But the robot did not speak instead it played a recording of Tony Stark's voice "I see a suit of armour around the world…"

"Ultron?" Banner said looking at Stark surprised Cortana closed her eyes thinking she had sensed that Banner and Stark were hiding things from her recently but she had thought it was Helen Cho's work on the body she now inhabited had they been studying her AI matrix to make this creature?

"In the flesh, or not yet not this Christmas, but soon after I deal with my mission." He said as several others moved slowly to grab concealed or makeshift weapons.

"What mission?" Natasha Romanov questioned

"Peace in our time" Ultron said finally as several robots burst through the wall behind it attacking the Avengers group. In an instant the Master Chief reacted in two ways the first was to push Cortana out the way the second was to draw the Sangheili energy sword hilt from the small of his back hidden under the shirt the whole night. When Cortana had realized he was carrying it she had teased him about being in a perfectly safe place but now he had the last laugh activating the blade with one swing he cut one of the enemies in half and turned towards another. Maria Hill, Natasha Romanov and Rhodes had sourced hidden handguns and were firing at the enemy. Thor was smashing opponents with his hammer and Rodgers had grabbed his shield while Stark and Hawkeye were using makeshift weapons. Banner, Cho and Cortana were doing their best to stay out of the fight of the Avengers Banner was the best one to stay out of a fight given that Hulk would be as much a danger to them as they were their opponents.

Several repulsor blasts flew past the Chief he felt the heat pass him and missed his armour as he marched up to one of the final robots and cut it in half with the blade. Thor finished off the final figure with a throw of his hammer smashing it into the wall. Even as the robot continued to make a noise the Chief heard a scream from Dr Helen Cho turning he saw Cho and Romanov were knelt over Cortana's fallen form. Stepping forward he extinguished the blade and knelt down beside her "I'm not used to having to duck myself, you made it look so easy in the past, John."

"I had a lot of practice"

"You need to transfer to the mainframe if you die in this body then I can't bring you back." Helen Cho warned as Cortana's body began to fail

"I will miss tonight" she said quietly her eyes closing.

"Cortana!" the Chief snapped it took a few moments but Cortana's hologram appeared at the far end of the room. The Chief rose from the now offline body avatar of Cortana and he moved across the room as the others filed out giving them a little privacy.

"What happened here?" She asked seeing the sword blade hilt in his hands and the destruction all around "I'm guessing tonight did not go to plan?"

"Not quite" he admitted

"its okay, John, Dr Cho will solve this little problem" Cortana promised him "assuming you want her to?" He nodded now barely able to look at the Hologram without thinking about the fallen body behind him. "I need to go away a while. She said I need to be shutdown until they find a solution to this…" she said Rampancy was taking over her program more every minute she needed to end this while she was in control "the others they will need you. I'll miss you Chief." She said reaching out to him but unable to touch him before disappearing leaving him alone once more.


	6. Ultron

Hi all, I'm very glad this story has been well received and it has been enjoyed. So far it's been quite fun finding places for the Chief to fit in. This one is likely the last that will follow the Marvel canon, as it goes forwards, while I will be using the films as an inspiration for scenes I'll also be introducing a couple of new stand alone pieces.

Master Chief meets the Avengers – Ultron

High above Eastern Europe country of Sokovia a large part of the city of Novi Grad had taken flight due to the work of the AI known as Ultron. The Avengers were now at this very moment fighting with Ultron's drones for control of the city while it climbed through the atmosphere. The Master Chief had not been part of the Avengers initial push to stop Ultron but he had been approached by War Machine and former SHIELD Director Nick Fury who had a plan of their own to assist the Avengers and rescue as many of the cities inhabitants as possible.

As the SHIELD Helicarrier rose through the sky near the city War Machine took off heading to join Iron Man fighting Ultron's drones while the Chief stood on the deck of the helicarrier he readied his sniper rifle taking out several of the enemy drones but the Chief could see dozens more drones on the city were trying to engage the helicarrier's evacuation transports and made a decision "Sierra 117 to bridge, sir, permission to disembark."

"Mind telling me what your plan is?" Nick Fury replied from the command

"Our transports need cover I am going to provide it." The Chief said readying himself

"We don't have a transport available at the moment Master Chief continue to engage at range" Fury replied but the Chief's decision was already made and he was in motion.

"Negative, sir" he said running at full speed across the Helicarrier's deck leaping clear of the hull he remembered Cortana's age old question 'what if you miss?' "I don't miss!" He called out jumping across the gap between carrier and the city. In mid air he activated his jet pact extending the jump of his MJOLNIR suit. The Chief crouched into a ball and rolled across the ground bringing up his battle rifle as he did instantly firing several bursts of fire into the nearest Ultron drones.

In the sky above them the Avengers Quinjet was strafing the Avengers as they tried to evacuate the last of the civilians on the city. The Chief drew his Sniper Rifle from his back targeting the Quinjet but he saw out of the corner of his eye Hawkeye moving away from the evacuation transports and decided to follow. As he moved across the open ground the Chief gunned down several more drones and saw what the archer was going after a scared child who had been left behind he also saw the Quinjet was making another run this time its cannons tearing up the ground near Captain America and Thor. Running across the ground the Chief got in the way of the fire taking the impacts of several cannon shots his shielding depleting nearly instantly and several shots impacting on the ballistic layer of his armour. Behind him he saw the enhanced human Quicksilver stood having being ready to shield Hawkeye and the child from the weapons fire. "I didn't see that coming" he said looking at the Chief who responded by turning his sniper rifle back on the Quinjet which was heading away from the city once more.

"Let's get out of here before he comes back" Hawkeye said to Quicksilver who quickly grabbed the child and moved off at lightning quick speeds. "Chief, you coming?" Hawkeye shouted as he began running towards the remaining transport.

"Go, I'm going to make a final check" he said putting the sniper back on his back as he began to move he saw Wonda Maximov, the Scarlet Witch was still defending the drill control waiting for Thor's return and she was surrounded by Ultron drones. Drawing his battle rifle once more he moved quickly towards her gunning down several more drones his shield absorbing the hits from the drones.

"You need to go!" Wonda shouted at him destroying several drones with bolts of pure energy she seemed to be creating from thin air.

"I can get off this rock myself!" The Chief said drawing a pistol from his armour's thigh holster gunning down three drones before discarding the weapon, there was no time to reload instead he drew one of his suit's built in energy swords and began to fight the drones in close quarters unfortunately there were too many drones for the two of them and one slammed into the drill controls shutting it down and reversing its power now the city was falling back towards the Earth. "GO!" The Chief shouted at her now the drones were not their enemy, time was, the Chief heard over their communication link that Stark and Thor had a plan to destroy the city before it impacted with the Earth now they just needed to get off. As the Scarlet Witch created a path through the debris the Chief ran towards the edge of the city behind him the newest Avenger known as Vision scooped up Wonda Maximov drawing her away from the city. The Chief reached the edge and without a single hesitation leapt from the city into the open sky.

Despite weighing half a ton the Chief watched as the city he had just been standing on fell far faster than he did. Reaching for the suit's wrist controls he shut down his suit's energy blades, motion tracker and communications shunting all the power he could into its shields and then hardened the gel layer of the suit essentially turning the suit into a falling brick. At one hundred metres the jet back was set to kick in and reduce the velocity but he knew that there was going to be a heavy impact when he finally did hit the ground.

Falling through the air the Chief continued to pick up speed before finally crashing to the ground in the forests of Sokovia uprooting several trees and creating a new crater as he landed. For several minutes the Chief lay where he had fallen catching his breath and checking the suit's systems his shield generator had blown in the crash he'd have to replace it when he returned to base both energy blades registered as destroyed and both his battle rifle and sniper rifle had been ripped off in the crash. Rolling over onto his back he saw fragments of the city falling through the air all around him and knew that Stark's plan to destroy the city and save the planet had succeeded nearby the Master Chief registered something landing. He sat up and saw an Ultron drone moving towards him. With no weapons or defences he had little chance of fending off the drone's attack but then as if appearing from nowhere Vision landed and looked at the drone "It doesn't have to end this way."

"As long as the Avengers exist this world will not see peace" the drone croaked the damage done to it had crippled many of its systems. "Even with you my perfect self with them they cannot be trusted to do what needs to be done to protect this world."

"I, like the Avengers, will make my own choices as humans do every day." Vision said turning to indicate to the still prone Chief "take this man for example he did not have a choice if he wanted to be a soldier or not it was thrown upon him. But today he had a choice to join in the defence of the innocents or to stay away and leave it to others to care." Vision said trying to reason with the Ultron drone which already was moving his arm weapons to attack.

"Oh please end this before I begin to well up" the drone said priming his weapons Vision instantly reacted and a beam of light shot from the gem stone imbedded in his forehead creating a fireball that consumed the last remaining drone. Vision then turned towards the Chief and with one hand pulled him onto his feet.

"Many lives were saved today because of the choices you made, the others are lucky to have your support, and yet you do not seem to want to be part of them?"

"I have a home" the Chief said after a moment's thought "I am in the wrong place and time."

"Perhaps you will never return there, Master Chief Petty Officer 117, and perhaps it is time that you began to accept that this is the only home and the only people that will accept you." Vision said quite bluntly before taking off flying away from him the Chief watched the strange purple being flying silently away and shook his head for a moment looking at the remains of the Ultron drone for a second before beginning the slow walk down the mountain to an open area where a transport could land and collect him taking him back to the helicarrier which still hovered above.

Sometime later the Chief was on board the helicarrier as it returned to the United States while relief teams tried to help the people of Sokovia recover and rebuild. The helicarrier was heading towards a new facility that was being finished for the Avengers use in upstate New York far from any built up areas so if a battle like that with Ultron broke out again collateral damage would be kept to a minimum. The Avengers would remain as an independent operation held apart from the reformed SHIELD but working alongside it to combat threats to law and peace. The Chief was stood in one of the maintenance bays doing what he felt like he was always doing, maintaining his equipment, when Nick Fury entered the room stopping to lean on the door frame. "So I hear you still don't consider yourself to be an Avenger?"

"I fight for what is right" the Chief said not looking over at the man "I am a soldier of the United Nations Space Command, my loyalties will always be to them and to the soldiers I left behind." He said he was unable to break his oath to the UNSC.

"I can understand that" Fury admitted "for many years my loyalties were to the Army, to my family and my home." He said "then one day I realized I could help them more by working with SHIELD to stop threats before they became a threat that needed a bigger more public response." He explained "I am still loyal to my home and to the soldiers I fought with but I now have other priorities and responsibilities too." He said "the two are not mutually exclusive. SHIELD in its purest sense was formed to protect people you are a soldier Master Chief a soldier's duty is to shield those who cannot protect themselves… the Avengers are those with the desire to protect and the abilities that allow them to contribute more than one hundred soldiers or a fleet of helicarriers like this one could do. So tell me where do you belong?" He asked before leaving the Master Chief to make his decision.

Days later at the new Avengers facility the Master Chief agreed with Nick Fury, Steve Rodgers and the other new members of the Avengers team that he would support future operations and help combat the threats that the Earth but he would not officially be seen as an Avenger instead remaining as a member of the UNSC willing to help protect those he could until he found another path. He was given a small place at the facility to house the Pelican, his armour and other equipment but otherwise left to his own devices.


	7. Rebirth and Change

Master Chief meets the Avengers – Rebirth and Change

"What's going on down there Sam?" The control room called to Falcon who was on patrol around the Avengers facility. In his room the Chief glanced over at the radio and listened in.

"I had a sensor trip, but I'm not seeing anything" Falcon replied the Master Chief took a step towards his MJOLNIR suit "wait a second" the Falcon reported "I've located the breach bringing him in" "breach is an adult male who has some sort of shrinking tech…"

"Sierra 117 to Falcon do you need assistance."

"Negative, enjoy your day off" Sam Wilson replied he sounded out of breath but the man knew how to handle himself in a fight "aren't you supposed to be in the research wing?" He asked the Master Chief wasn't interested in the little project that Vision and Scarlett Witch had come up with. "Go on now I'm going to sort out this little tick-tack." He promised the Chief nodded and decided to to leave him to it heading through the facility towards the research wing.

He entered the lab to find Vision and Scarlett Witch with Dr Helen Cho looking at a new Cradle inside there was a figure. "Master Chief welcome" Vision said nodding slightly as he entered the others turned facing him.

"John, this is incredible" Helen Cho said welcoming him he looked at her strangely "they have taken my research and the work that Ultron did with Vision to an entirely new level." She said excited looking at Vision.

"We have simply created a sustainable body for your AI companion." Vision explained the Chief was glad to hear they had not abandoned hope of creating a body for Cortana but had not expected something so soon especially with the recent ban on research into artificial intelligences.

"Sustainable?" He asked carefully glancing between them.

"A body like Visions but lacking in the powers of the mind stone" Scarlett Witch said opening the cradle revealing a twenty something looking woman wearing a skin tight blue jumpsuit. Unlike the previous avatar of Cortana this one had short hair like her original holographic image. "It will be faster, stronger; it will be more durable and retain the ability to hold Cortana's intelligence."

"But…" The Chief added knowing there would be one coming along.

"But it will be her only host, there will be no room for back-ups, it will retain all of her essence in one form. So you need to be sure it is this or her AI remains in its present state until someone can figure out a way to bring her back online."

"I believe that she would prefer to live one life" the Chief said after a moment's thought he had protected her for years and would continue to whatever for she was in. With his words they began the transfer process and slowly the new host came to life opening her blue eyes "Cortana?" He said stepping forward to face her.

"I am UNSC Smart AI CTN 0452-9" she said raising her arms looking at her new arms "this body is not regulation UNSC property." She said she sounded like a new born AI completely devoid of the personality that the Master Chief had known.

"Give her time, this is a lot for the host body to assimilate, John" Dr Helen Cho suggested

"John?" Cortana asked looking at him up and down "Spartan 117, what is our assignment here?"

"To keep the peace and protect those that need it." The Chief replied "and if we are able to find a way back to the UNSC."

"I understand" she said she said looking around the room and then at their three companions finishing looking at Vision and the mind stone imbedded in his forehead.

"Perhaps you could show her around our facility; it will perhaps help with the change." Vision suggested the Master Chief nodded and indicated towards the door. Cortana's new host body took her first step out of the cradle and then her next slowly becoming used to walking around. As they moved around the facility the Master Chief explained what each section of the base was used for while Cortana appeared to be taking everything in.

They reached one of the external doors and found Sam "Falcon" Wilson and a couple of maintenance techs inspecting some damage that had been done to one of the cargo bay doors during the intrusion. "You could handle this tick-tack?" the Chief said smirking looking at the damage as they walked passed.

"You had to be there Chief" Falcon said defensively watching the Chief and Cortana continue their tour "just don't tell the Capt, when he gets back all of this will be good as new." He promised

Heading through the facility they finally reached the bay that the Master Chief's Pelican was stored in. "Standard D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship Tail number 437 assigned to Forward Unto Dawn commanded by Commander Miranda Keyes daughter of Captain Jacob Keyes both are listed as KIA." She said walking around the ship feeling the nicks in the armour "you used this to escape the wreck of the Forward Unto Dawn and come to Earth."

"We did use this ship" the Chief said remaining at a distance.

"I don't know if I'm the same…" she whispered looking at the Pelican once more "I'm like this ship it was built with hundreds of others to serve a purpose but now each of them is different. The Cortana I was before is not the same as the Cortana I am now, we are the same but we have seen things differently." She tried to explain "do you understand Chief?" She asked looking over at the Spartan.

"You're still the same Cortana to me" he said ignoring her claims that she was different. "This way" he said leading her away from the battered Dropship through the cooridor into his workshop/room the walls held various pieces of equipment that he'd taken from the Forward Unto Dawn's armory and put into the Pelican before entering cryosleep shortly after the destruction of the Halo ring at the Arc. It seemed like a lifetime ago but in the middle of the room was the main attraction to any visitor the Chief's MJOLNIR suits. The closest one to the door was the newest variant of the suit with Tony Stark's modifications while behind it was his original older suit which had been battered over the sustained fighting against the Covenant, Sentinels and Flood. Cortana walked straight up to the old piece of armour and reached out to touch the cold green coloured metal.

"I waited so long to do that." She whispered looking right up at the suit's golden visor seeing her reflection. The Chief remembered when Dr Cho's original host body had touched his chest and felt his heart beat she looked over at him and their eyes met and an unspoken message was passed between them he knew she was remembering more all the time and soon she would be the Cortana he knew once more despite her claims.

"Master Chief to the Common Room, Master Chief to the Common Room." An announcement came over the intercom system interrupting their moment. The Chief silently indicated for her to come with him, he didn't want to leave her out of his sight for a moment. They headed up onto the higher levels of the facility and saw an angry looking Steve Rodgers standing waiting for them immediately the Chief's guard was up.

"What the hell is this?" He demanded looking at the Chief and at Cortana.

"This is Cortana" the Chief said giving Captain America a moment to assimilate the information

"You just had to rope Vision and Wanda into this didn't you?" He said angrily "so not only you are breaking the law into AI research but so are they!" He snapped

"They didn't research anything, they only created a body for Cortana…"

"Developing a body for an AI does actually break the law you know?" Rodgers said wearily "the Avengers are supposed to uphold the peace, how can I go out there and say we are better than anyone else when we break the laws we agreed to protect?" He asked as co-leader of the Avengers it often came down to Rodgers to come up with responses for anything the Avengers did, how he'd explain this one he didn't know.

"Afternoon everyone how are we on this beautiful day?" Tony Stark asked breaking the tension as he entered the room and threw his business suit jacket onto a nearby chair "talking about beautiful hello" he said moving over to Cortana "they have you walking and talking I see good work too."

"Tony you know about this?" Rodgers asked wearily realizing that the man the world knew as Iron Man was also in on this little scheme to see a rebirth of the Master Chief's AI sidekick.

"This little argument you are having?" Stark asked looking around before heading over to the kitchen to pour what smelled like over brewed coffee into a large mug with Iron Man pictures on it "that not a clue." He said "that beautiful creation there and I don't mean just the body your brain is absolutely gorgeous" he said looking at Cortana "almost wish I had designed it myself." He admitted before looking at Rodgers "well yeah I might have known about it. I might have also poured some money and resources into it, like the building of this base, the Iron Legion, the Quinjets, the equipment inside all of that, the food, water, power etc etc."

"TONY!" Rodgers snapped

"WHAT!" The man replied snapping back taking a drink from his steaming mug "this guy helped us in New York, he has helped us around the world against HYDRA and against Ultron and we can't pay him back a little?" He said looking at the Chief.

"Developing AI technology is banned you of all people should know that."

"I do know that" Stark said finally "but I also know that this AI wasn't developed by anyone here all we did was release it from the cage that we created for it."

"We need to shut it down" Rodgers said looking at the Chief "until we can understand its abilities."

"Not going to happen!" the Chief said stepping in front of Cortana ready for a fist fight if needs be he would pit his 26th Century enhancements over Rodgers 19th Century science. "We volunteered to help you in New York and we have helped you since because we wanted to not because there was any requirement of it." He said stepping up to Captain America he was taller than the man but the Master Chief knew it would be a tough fight if things broke out here. "I do not need to be here… WE can leave at anytime." He said emphasising the point that he and Cortana would be together if they stayed or left.

"No-one is saying that" Stark said quickly before looking at an irritated Rodgers "well no-one but doom and gloom there is saying that. You know for a poster boy you can be quite grumpy I'm sure your winning personality didn't do anything for the troops." He said trying to annoy the Captain by teasing him about the original job the US Army thought he was good for as a recruiter and morale booster. Stark moved around a nearby sofa and flopped down on the comfortable chair.

"Tony, you're not helping here…" Rodgers said looking at him then back at the Chief just as Natasha Romanov appeared at the door.

"Steve! We have a lead on Rumlow" she said looking right at him and then to the two others "did I interrupt something?"

"We're not done" Rodgers said pointing at the Chief's chest "we'll pick this up later, Wanda you're with me. Nat, get Sam ready we're leaving as soon as possible." He said looking at Tony Stark who remained on the sofa drinking coffee.

"Don't look at me" he said looking at the Captain "I'm due to give a talk at MIT in an hour and a half, you can go avenge something I'll be around." He said refusing to move. The Captain turned towards the exit leaving the room with Wanda close behind.

"Well I should be going to" Stark said rising from the sofa to look at the Master Chief and Cortana "Capt will come round trust me he just needs a little time." He said leaving the room with Vision leaving Cortana and the Chief alone.

"Chief…" Cortana began just as another tech entered.

"Where is the Captain?" He asked looking at the Chief recognizing him.

"He is preparing to mobilize against Rumlow." The Chief answered naming the former SHIELD operative that had avoided capture and prosecution for months. The Master Chief noticed the tech was wavering for a moment "what is it?"

"Sir, it's been reported that all communication with Mombasa in Kenya has been lost and there is strange energy readings coming from the city." The tech reported

"Mombasa" the Chief repeated looking at Cortana they knew the city in the future. "I will investigate if you can give me a support squad?" He asked looking at the tech.

"We will need a support squad" Cortana corrected him "we're in this together."

"I will need to clear it with Agent Hill"

"Do it quickly I'll prepare the Pelican" the Chief said moving to the exit with Cortana leaving the bewildered tech behind, the Chief would prove their worth to Captain America and the others.


	8. Mombasa

Master Chief meets the Avengers – Mombasa

It did not take long for the Pelican to be prepared and for them to reach the airspace over Mombasa. Because the Pelican was designed to travel through space as well as through an atmosphere the Master Chief was able to take them above conventional flight paths ignoring civilian traffic. As they approached the city they could see the entire city was in darkness only lit by the light from the moon and from several fires that burned uncontrolled due to the power loss. On the ground Kenyan military forces were moving on the city to assist its population but the Chief had already decided he wouldn't be linking up with them straight away.

"Cortana analysis" he asked glancing back at Cortana who sat behind him at the sensor station.

"There is a reported 1.6 million people in the city below, a lot less than when we were last here" she said "but there is no island just a single land mass." She said looking at the data as the dropship descended "seems like the sea levels have not risen yet."

"There is no orbital tether either" the Chief said thinking of the structure that dominated the city in the future "what caused the outage?"

"Seems like an energy surge in the north of the city" she said the Chief turned the ship towards the city. "It can't be…" She whispered the Chief turned the Pelican away for a moment altering their path.

"No don't" she said softly leading him to turn the ship back "Chief, I can't explain this but I'm reading a Covenant Slipspace signature."

"Covenant?" The Chief asked looking out the windows searching for a sign of a Covenant vessel seeing no sign "there's nothing out there are you sure?"

"It's definitely a Covenant signature emanating from here" she said looking at the sensors "it's where Truth's ship jumped over New Mombasa." She reported "the Electro Magnetic Pulse from the jump has somehow travelled through time."

"Can we use it to travel back?" The Chief asked suddenly forgetting about where they currently were and what mission they had taken. He had a greater calling.

"Not likely" Cortana said quietly "anyway there is already a John 117 and Cortana AI there…" she began moments later red and blue streams of plasma rose from the ground cutting through the air in front of the dropship. "Oh god, Covenant life signs detected!" She called out snapping the Chief out of his longing for home instead he dived the Pelican in a spiral towards the ground hoping that the men and equipment in the back were secured.

"How the hell did they get here?" The Chief demanded as he brought the Pelican down towards the ground landing in the car park of a shopping market. The large Pelican smashed dozens of ground vehicles to the side as it came to rest. In the cockpit the Chief was already on the move heading into the cargo bay looking at the ten men and women who had come with him and Cortana to Mombasa. "Listen up we believe an EMP knocked out the power to the city and we have detected what we believe is non-human life signs occupying its centre."

"Did you say non-human?" One of the men asked sounding worried.

"Affirmative" the Chief confirmed "we do not know if this is a scout force or something larger. We need to search out these intruders and discover exactly what they want with this city." He said reaching over removing a shotgun from the weapons rack placing it onto his suit's back. A moment later he grabbed a Battle Rifle and two side-arm pistols adding them to his arsenal. "If these are the creatures I believe they are they will take our combined efforts to take them down. You need to support each other and concentrate your fire." He said marching the rear of the Pelican opening the door the Chief was aware of Cortana following him and he turned to face her. "You should stay here." He said trying to protect her.

"I go where you go." She promised him lifting the assault rifle she carried.

"Then remember you're not in my head anymore, keep yours out of the line of fire." He said stepping out into the darkened streets his MJOLNIR suit's external lighting activating as it sensed the light going down.

Moving through the city the small team headed towards the EMP signature. Each side of the street the Chief detected movement but the people were staying inside their homes out of trouble he hoped it stayed that way. As they moved the Chief heard a noise that felt like it came from a lifetime ago he signalled to everyone to get down as he ducked behind a vehicle ahead was a group of Unggoy and Kig-Yar led by a massive Jarlhanae. He turned to Cortana "Grunts, Jackals and a Brute." He said to her she nodded while the back-up squad looked confused "listen up the little fat ones are grunts no shields and a push over on their own, Jackals are the thin ones with they are deadly at range and they carry portable shields while the big one that looks like a monkey is a Brute. I have him" the Chief said. "Cortana stay with the squad provide support fire."

The action erupted rapidly with bullet fire flying through the air cutting into the Grunts and Jackals the Grunts breathing tanks exploded under their fire while the Jackals tried to deflect several shots with their shields before being knocked down after being struck with several shots. The Chief ran across the field firing his battle rifle as he charged at the Brute leaping through the air cutting into the massive animal's armour even as he tried to return fire with his large bladed grenade launcher missing the Chief instead destroying a couple of vehicles nearby. As he closed he slammed into the Brute knocking him backwards before activating one of the suit's energy blades cutting down the Brute in one strike.

From their covered positions the back-up team moved over to where the Chief stood over the downed Brute. "Sir, what the hell is this?"

"This is a member of the Jarlhanae species, also known as the Brutes" he said "this is a member of the Covenant a group of alien species who where I am from want to wipe out our race." He said turning to one of them "secure the area and call for the Department of Damage Control to take this lot into custody, we'll investigate further" he said looking at Cortana who nodded her agreement.

Together they moved on through the darkened city towards the origin of the EMP. There was no light in the city but the low-light vision on the Chief's suit and on Cortana's combat helmet allowed them to walk along the street as if it was perfectly light. "We're here" Cortana said glancing at her handheld scanner and around the surrounding area.

"There's nothing here" he replied looking at her to their side there was an entrance to a building site.

"Where there is nothing above…" she suggested he nodded then began to head down the stairs. They were soon in the building site with a tunnel that led deep underground. "Reading suggest it's down there."

"Everything that is bad and creepy lies in a dark place lucky us." He quipped switching on the helmet lights as they walked down passed the digging equipment. They walked deeper and deeper underground.

"Hold it Chief!" Cortana said seeing some equipment covered an area where there had been a minor cave in "give me a hand" she said Cortana's enhanced form and the Chief's own superior bulk pushed the equipment clear revealing another tunnel.

"Let's have a look" he said forcing some of the rocks clear and pushing his way into the tunnel because of his bulk the suit's shields flared slightly under the pressure. Inside the tunnel was wider than the entrance and the Chief was able to move more fluidly as he did he saw familiar architecture begin to show through. "Cortana is this…"

"Forerunner!" She exclaimed seeing what he was seeing in the future the area around Mombasa was revealed to be a gateway portal built by the Forerunner race centuries before. As they moved into the facility the lights came online and the doors opened for them with the Chief and Cortana scanning the area with their weapons. "It must be an alternate entrance to the Arc Portal" Cortana mused as she moved through the facility as they opened one door two Sentinels.

"Good call" the Chief said levelling his weapon at one while Cortana moved to see the next.

"Reclaimer, Reclaimer, no you do not need to fight here!" A high pitched voice screamed as a metal sphere in a metal cube floated towards them. "Reclaimer, I am the Volunteer Spirit the monitor of this station and I have been looking after this facility for a very long time. Is it time to open the portal?"

"Not right now" Cortana said looking at the hovering ball of metal and light "what is this place?"

"This is the Portal Facility for Installation 00; all Forerunner worlds are equipped with such a facility to allow for fast transit between facilities."

"Monitor, we will not need transfer to the Ark for some time, for now we have to leave and this facility must remain dormant." the Chief began taking several steps backwards with the Forerunner Ship that resided in Covenant Space there was no way for the Portal to be activated anyway being here now was just wrong. He had the beginnings of a life in the here and now.

"Dormancy is not preferable, Reclaimer, you can wait for the time this facility is needed." The Monitor said moving closer as the Chief and Cortana continued to back up.

"It's a little too long to wait…" Cortana began "but we will return when the time is right." She promised him.

"That is an inefficient method instead status will be far more effective" Volunteer Spirit shrieked suddenly a flash of light knocked both the Master Chief and Cortana out. "Sleep Reclaimer" the monitor said hovering over their bodies "I will awake you when the time is right, once the others have been and past, once Gods and Demons have had their say."

In a warm March morning on the continent of Africa on Earth Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood stood in front of a memorial to those that had been lost in the recent Human-Covenant War. The memorial was a part of a broken Pelican Dropship shot down by the Covenant during the Battle of the Portal at Voi. "For us, the storm has passed... the war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure; sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight... our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten." He said pulling on his dress uniform hat.

"Present Arms!" Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker shouted at seven marines who stood in with regulation battle rifles. They turned and fired three volleys into the air in unison in a three-volley salute to those who had fallen. The sound of the shots echoed off of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Down from the memorial Admiral Hood stepped towards the almost eight-foot-tall Sangheli Arbiter Thel 'Vadam the warrior that had lead his race away from the Covenant and into an alliance with humanity to help end the war. "I remember how this war started. What your kind did to mine. I can't forgive you. But..." he said pausing to extend his hand to the alien warrior "you have my thanks, for standing by him to the end." He said as the Sangheli shook his hand with far less force than he was capable.

"Hard to believe he's dead." Hood said continuing causing the Arbiter to glance at his vessel the massive Covenant Supercarrier Shadow of Intent which hovered nearby.

"Were it so easy…" Thel 'Vadam said looking around a glint of light flashed on the hill causing the Arbiter to look to a nearby sand dune behind was the dormant Forerunner facility which had allowed them to travel to Installation 00. The massive alien roared with laughter on seeing his foe who became his friend "demon" he said laughing even louder as both the Master Chief and Cortana were seen by the stunned crowd.

Author Note: my thanks everyone who has read this story and enjoyed it this is finally an ending worthy of this story. I'll be honest I was originally tempted to run this into the world of Agents of Shield, Guardians of the Galaxy or Infinity War but I think I've taken this as far as I want to.


End file.
